The ancient Greeks believed that the goddess Iris used rainbows to travel from the heavens to earth, gliding down the colorful slide to deliver messages from the gods to humans. Looking at a rainbow, it is easy to see how it came to be seen as a mode for divine communication. When one appears, we stop what we're doing and stare in amazement. Something magical has penetrated our everyday world and blessed us with it's beauty.

Every culture has witnessed the rainbow and attempted to make sense of it in its own way. In recent years, it has been interpreted as a message of racial unity-a symbol representing the potential for the harmonious coming together of all the various tribes of the earth. In Tibetan Buddhism, when a great yogi or yogini passes on, rainbows appear at the time of passing. This is referred to as the attainment of the rainbow body. What it means is that the soul in question purified itself so completely as to be free of darkness at the time of death.

These philosophies challenge the perception that the universe is necessarily dualistic, that war and peace, darkness and light, are two sides of one coin. According to these interpretations, harmony and pure light are ultimately capable of absorbing and healing conflict and negativity, the rainbow acting as a symbol of a higher realm of consciousness in which these aspects cease to exist.

This transformation is achieved, not through repressing negativity, but through bathing it in the light and allowing the power of the light to absorb it. In this way, the rainbow is indeed a cosmic messenger reminding us of the power of our individual and collective higher consciousness, through which we have the power to heal our world and ourselves.

Today's friend of OM:
Energy Muse's new jewelry collection, "Invoking the Goddess", is inspired by goddess and constellation energies. The Orion Mala is a symbolic reminder that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Each piece works with the wearer to dissolve blocks and encourage harmony throughout the body.